Chapter Two

Tuesday, April 6, 2004

6:28 A.M.

JORDAN YANKED her luggage bag up and threw it into the back of her jeep. She jumped up to catch the handle and shut the vertically rising back door of her car. With her things stowed away, she walked across the dew-drenched lawn of the luxury apartment complex she resided in. Her apartment was on the third, and top-most, floor of the vanilla colored building. Jogging up the steps, Jordan hummed the lyrics of the song she was listening to, her green Skull Candies stuffed in her ears. Once inside, she fixed herself a cup of hot chocolate, placed in a metalloid to-go container, that had more marshmallows floating and melting in the hot drink than a little kid would want.

"Alright, that it?" Jordan checked over her mental list of all the things she needed. After a few seconds, she was finally satisfied and turned to leave, locking the door behind her.

After a pleasant twenty minute drive to work, Jordan parked her car in the front of the FBI headquarters, then strolled up the front steps of the gloomy building. Jordan wondered if it felt like a prison to anyone else who was in a one hundred mile proximity of the place.

As soon as Jordan stepped foot inside the waiting elevator in the sparsely filled lobby, someone shouted from behind: "Hold it! Hold it! Hold the elevator!" Immediately, Jordan stuck her foot out, in case the doors did decide to close before the man made it inside the elevator. He successful made it to the little box in time. Jordan smiled and nodded at the nondescript youth, and pressed a button on the number pad. Stepping out of the way, she gave her elevator-mate room to select his own floor. He waved her off with his free hand, his other holding a cup of coffee, and smiled.

"I'm on the same floor." Intrigued, Jordan decided to strike up a conversation with him. Before she could say anything, however, she began to scrutinize his appearance. He barely looked a few years older than her. He also had extremely similar hair to her own. Upon closer examination, Jordan realized who she was talking to.

"Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid...!" She gaped. She knew he was the youngest member of the BAU team -after Jordan, now-, but he looked perpetually young. He smiled and nodded.

"Nice to meet you, too, Special Agent Dr. Jordan Harlem," Spencer spoke with a cordially mocking tone, his wide lips twisted in a mirthful smirk, then dipped his head ever so slightly. "What brings you to the BAU at such a young age?" Spencer, already knowing the answer to this question, was simply attempting to be conversational. He was extremely proud of himself for not having rattled off some asinine statistic yet.

"I was requested by SSA Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner to join the team as soon as I graduated from the Academy. Same for you, right? I read your file." Spencer cocked an eyebrow at Jordan's smooth words. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me you didn't do the same thing when you first joined the BAU," Jordan's facial expression was remarkably like that of a person sticking their tongue out, without sticking her tongue out. The elevator pinged, pulling in a pair of agents, who politely ignored the two profiler's conversation.

"Well... I guess..." Jordan laughed as Spencer pushed onward. "Anyway... so, you have a doctorate? But aren't you only twenty-four years old?" Spencer looked at Jordan incredulously. However, they both knew how false Spencer's curiosities were. He had an eidetic memory and had read Jordan's file; of course he would know about her education. But Jordan would humor him, understanding his intentions. She wasn't a profiler for nothing.

"I graduated from high school when I was fifteen, started taking college classes at sixteen. Yadda-yadda-yadda... plenty of people have done it before." Jordan shrugged and smiled. Again, the elevator pinged, birthing the two strange agents into an empty hallway."I finished early, too. Because of the coarse load I took on. From the age of sixteen to eighteen, I had twenty-one credits a semester." Spencer's eyes widened at this.

"Wait, from sixteen to eighteen?" Spencer looked at Jordan, who had not heard (or rather, chose to ignore) Spencer's question. He wondered what the ages meant for her.

"I didn't have anything better to do. You know, li-" Jordan stopped, her mouth forming around the word. No... no, I will not go there. And she did not. The elevator dinged, permitting them access onto the floor of the BAU. They stepped into the hallway, nearly at the glass double-door entrance of the center of the BAU.

"Wait, what were you saying? I didn't-"

"Oh, I didn't say anything," Jordan shook her head, feigning innocence and elated that Spencer hadn't heard much.

"No, you said-"

"-nothing." She swiveled around, stopping immediately in front of him. She did not realize how short compared to him she was until then. The top of her head barely met his chin. Jordan smiled. Spencer, who nearly spilled his cup of coffee across his chest, winced at the terrible what-could-have-been in his mind.

"You know, there's not much information in your file," Spencer's voice was tense and quick as he recovered from the shock of near-third degree burns, "it's basically blank."

"Don't do this, Reid. Please." Jordan's voice was a whisper. "Most of my file is blank for a reason." She pursed her lips, holding steady eye contact with Spencer, who was anxiously trying to solve the puzzle of Jordan Harlem. Her answer-less, question-filled reply merely agitated him more. He did not question her further, though. Instead, he chose to honor her privacy. For the time being, that is.

"You know, we call him Hotch." Jordan eyed Spencer curiously. "Aaron Hotchner, I mean. It's his nickname." Spencer awkwardly nodded, insinuating an agreement had been reached. Jordan nodded as well. However, she had a feeling that this would not be the last she heard from Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid.

"Now," Jordan began, anxiously happy about the drastic subject change, but about to make her own conversational jump, "let's go meet the rest of the team. Where do you usually..."

Spencer led her to the conference room. As soon as Jordan stepped into the room, everyone fell silent. Jordan stared at each of them, frightened of them. Were they all as nice as Spencer?, she wondered. She hoped. Giving them a meek smile, and an equally meek wave, Jordan let out a nervous laugh.

"Hi- everyone... Um... I'm Special Agent Dr. Jordan Harlem?" She looked to Spencer, hoping she gave the right answer. He smiled and sat down at the round table. "I'm- the clinical psychologist for the team.." A pretty blond woman was the first to speak up. She stood, offering her hand to Jordan.

"My name's Jeniffer Jareau, but everyone calls me JJ. I'm the communication liaison for our team; I talk with the victim's family, the press, et cetera. It's nice to finally meet you," JJ smiled as Jordan took the waiting hand in her own. Jordan nodded fervently, nervous.

"Finally?" Jordan voiced, but was not heard. As soon as JJ let go, everyone stood, in turn.

"Derek Morgan- nice to meet you. My specialty is obsessional crimes. I also worked the bomb squad back in L.A." Oh, he is beautiful... Jordan stared at Derek, unrelenting in her hold of his hand. Jordan looked deep into his chocolate eyes, entranced by their beauty. And then, quickly realizing the horridly awkward position she had placed them both in, ripped her hand away from his as if it were infected with cooties.

"My God, Agent Morgan-" you're so beautiful- "I'm so sorry." Her eyes were wide. She instinctively reached for her hot chocolate, but could not find it. Her frown deepened as she realized she left it at her apartment. And the packets were in her bag. And that their plane wouldn't be so nice as to have a hot chocolate maker... She felt deathly gloomy then.

"It's okay, kid... Are you... alright?" Derek eyed her. Jordan threw her face up, biting her lip with her lip. She had a terrible smile on her face that disturbed Derek.

"Oh, yeah. Just fine." She nodded her head, then turned to the next person in line. Observing everyone, she noted that they were all as beautiful as Derek.

"Special Agent Emily Prentiss. I'm pretty much the linguistics lady-" she shrugged- "It's nice to have you on the team. We've heard a lot about you- you're a doctor, too? At twenty-four?" Emily looked from Jordan to Spencer to Derek. "How in the hell do you people do that?" She looked at Jordan again.

"Well, Spencer graduated from high school at twelve, and I at fifteen. Not yet legal adults, we didn't have bills to pay, or anything better to do than school work. And actually, I received my doctorate at nineteen..." Jordan's words did not comfort anybody. Derek placed a (warm) hand on Jordan's (now warm and tingly) shoulder. She looked up at him, surprised (but excited and slightly aroused).

"Please tell me you're not into statistics like the kid over here," his voice was desperate in a humorous way. Jordan smiled reassuringly.

"I hated that class, Morgan. Don't worry," she comforted by patting his (sexy) hand. Jordan had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud at herself. Derek, however, did not exercise self-control as freely as Jordan, and laughed.

"That's a relief... Just a nerd, huh?" Jordan smiled at Derek's words.

"Just a nerd."

"And I am Mr. Aaron Hotchner." Jordan's face blew up in a blaze. Everyone turned to face Aaron with open mouths and questioning eyes.

"Hotch, why-"

"Don't ask." Jordan quickly interceded. Now it was Jordan's turn to be stared at. There was an awkward silence, in which Jordan wished Derek would put his hand on her shoulder again.

…

"Hello, hello, my heroic pygmy goats-" Jordan curiously eyed the blond lady who next entered the room, thankful for her sudden appearance, but disturbed by her words- "Oh, what do we have here?" She stared at Jordan, poking her in the forehead. Jordan blinked.

"Who-"

"Don't speak," she whispered, dragging her finger down Jordan's nose, "just listen and be blown away." Jordan turned to Spencer.

"Who-"

"Baby girl, play nice with the new kiddo." Derek raised an eyebrow, the new (creepy) blond lady copied him.

"Oh, you haven't even heard-" Jordan prodded Spencer.

"Who-"

"Alright, Garcia, on to the case," Aaron sat down at the table, gesturing for the rest of the team to do so as well. They each obeyed, filling up the seats. Garcia pulled out a remote and pointed it at the large television on the wall.

"Who wants to guess where you will all be going next? Spin the wheel of destiny!" Jordan leaned over to Spencer as the strange blond women threw her hands in the air.

"Who-"

"Huntsville, Alabama." Jordan jolted as everyone, except her and the disappointed looking blond lady, spoke in loud unison. Her ear nearly blown out by the close proximity of Spencer's loud voice, Jordan sat up and rubbed her ear. The blond woman looked at them sadly.

"Aw, you guys totally ruined all the fun," she bemoaned. "Anyway, yes! Huntsville, Alabama! I bet none of you knew! So, there has been a series of murders over the last few weeks in this quiet southern town."

"How do we know they're connected?" Derek questioned as soon as the woman's last sentence ended.

"They were all abducted from a bar where they either drank regularly, or worked at, and tortured and raped repeatedly before they were killed. But then... coo-coo. The first girl, kidnapped on the seventh of March, Marcy Stevens-" She punched a button on the remote, pulling up a photo of a horribly mutilated and disfigured body beside a beautiful brunette; she looked away just as the picture popped up on the screen, and Jordan suppressed her gag reflex- "was held for four days, and then killed and dumped in Monte Seno, a park on the western edge of Huntsville-" She pulled up a photo of a beautiful forest- "on the eleventh." Jordan felt disgusted with herself for thinking the word 'beautiful' immediately after seeing the picture of a brutalized woman.

"For five days, this guy was dormant. And then, on the eighteenth, Harley Radio-" A picture, as equally as disturbing as Marcy's, of a young blond woman showed on the screen- "was reported missing by her boyfriend. Her co-workers say she never returned from her 'lunch break,' though how a meal at seven P.M. can be considered 'lunch' is beyond me-"

"Garcia," Aaron warned politely. Jordan cocked an eyebrow, then resumed her thinking.

"Sorry, sir. Anyway, and so this guy's dormant, again, but this time only for three days. On the twenty-sixth, they found Piper Smith-" the picture of a joyful red-head popped up alongside the photo of her dead body; for Jordan, this was the most disturbing- "in Monte Seno. She had been held for two days, tortured and raped for that entire period. But now, our guy starts to get a pattern going. Well, that's my hypothesis...

"So, Stephanie Prudence-" red-head, pretty, disgusting remains- "kidnapped on the twenty-eighth, killed and then dumped in Monte Seno on the thirty-first; Page Campbell-" black hair, gorgeous smile, disgusting remains- "kidnapped two days later... yesterday. The investigation is at a stand-still now. They have no leads, and are in desperate need of our help." She looked at everyone, nodding her head sadly.

"Well, victimology doesn't seem to be of any help... there's not much in common between any of them beside their beauty," Spencer looked at the files in his hands, comparing the photos.

"Maybe..." Jordan glanced at her own, then put herself in the killer's position. "At what time were the women kidnapped?" Jordan looked up with inquisition at the blond lady holding the remote, who looked down at her own papers.

"Um, there's no way to tell exactly... the earliest was seven P.M., the latest was nine P.M... open to speculation, of course... this is just what camera's have picked up and people reported-"

"That's alright, Garcia. Okay everybody, plane leaves for Huntsville in an hour. Please be ready- if at all, before that time so we can get there as soon as possible."

"If the time line is present, as Garcia says, we could be lookin' at finding another body in three days." Derek looked at his colleagues, but did not find one hint of dissent.

"Let's hope that's not true," Aaron sighed and opened the door to leave the room. Jordan watched everyone, waiting to be last.

"Hey, aren't you coming?" Spencer stopped in the door way, turning around. Hand over her mouth, Jordan looked up at him, slightly surprised by his presence.

"Oh, yeah, in sec," she removed her hand from her face, smiling reassuringly, then nodded her head as Spencer returned the smile and left. She set her face on her arms then, ignoring her turning stomach. She then quickly stood up, heading for her jeep and the hot chocolate packs within it. She then remembered she never got a satisfactory answer for as to who that weird blond woman was.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh, mother balls, I broke 2,000 -_-;; Oh well... much to be included in this chapter... anywho, what did you guys think about the character interactions?

Okay, I know how some phones don't show italics, so here's an explanation in case any of you read fanfic via mobile Internet: when Jordan was getting acquainted with the team, those words in parenthesis were italicized, meaning, she thought them. It wasn't me being a stupid author, but Jordan being a... um... And I underlined that because I know underlined is showed on phones. And I wanted to make an emphasis there. So yeah. Explanation given. Thank you~ :)

BONUS: (For reference, see paragraph one) Okay, so... you know those things you put in your ears that help you listen to music? Well, I totally blitzed and forgot what the hell they were called when talking about them at the beginning of this chapter xD But I did remember a brand that made them. :3 So, yeah... and I now know that they are called ear buds. I was at Wal-Mart tonight (the 27th of November for all who care) ...and saw a sign... that said... EAR BUDS... and so yeah... -sigh-

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Merci~ \m/